Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-04-04
nAILY RECORD UNION
IRRIGATION IN PLACER.
AFRm 4, 1887

OF Placer county was N@i'NN ~
Auburn at 10 a. NJ. Saturday, Chairman
Whitney presiding. The meeting ~as en-
thusiastic. the best of feeling prevailed, and
about two hundred of the most prominent
frvit-growers were present. Thecommlttee
of three on irrigation made an elaborate
and complete report as follows;
AuguRN, Cal.,,April 2, 1887.
M presidcnt end Gentlemen: We, your COM
mittee appointed to gather statistics relative 70
the supply of and demand lot wafer ior tI'eei
county. beg leave 10 report as folioWs lit
The ditch known as the kozth FORK ultch
takes water from the American river nearly op-
posite Auburn; il is not available LOT lrIlga5ion
II any considerable extent until 1t passes Rat
tlesnske Bar. when its usefulness gradually
broadens unfit It reaches its present terminus,
near or at the BiTdsall orange rancn; II eA-
tended. could be made to cover the territory pc
low Rocklin to the county nnei present capacity
Is about 200 inches. but it is capable OF being
enlarged to several thousand inches the water
siIpply being sufficient to furnish all probable
demands for the territory lying under the me
OF ditch in our jurisdiction. said ditch Is sup.
posed to be owned BY Messrs. Cox x CLARK, OF
Sacramento.
THE CALIFORNIA WATER COMPANY.
It's principal place of business is Georgetown,
FL Dorado county, Cal, Thomas tludlay, mar
ager. ~ 80 IL. tho
manger of this company, together with personal
examination and investigation, we ma t,le
water supply of lhei. system Is taken from the
Little South Fork of the American river, Loon
Lake and other water courses ana lake reser-
yoirs. showing a large catchment and great
volume of water -, ooo
inches From the dam at Loon Lake 70 george
town il Is about fifty miles in length. 10 convey
this water into Placer county, at point nearly
opposite Auburn would require ditch OF per-
haps twenty-five miles additional
Length of fuming from Loon Lake 10 Neo ge-
town Is estimated to be about five miles.
From personal observation the character Oh
the country, from two miles above Georgetown
to the crossing of the American river INTO fiace1
county, seemed to be favorable for ditehIng
This company proposes to run from 1,WO 10
county by May /, 1855, ready for use II they are
offered proper inducements, ana at reuuceu
prices from present cost TO US.
GIANT GAP WATER COMPANY.
PRINCIPAL place of business, Auburn; Rresi-
dent, L. L. Givens, OF Oakland; secretary, u. w.
Smear. of Auburn; Treasurer, Montgomery
Howe Oakland: Manager. X. l. Dunn AUBURN;
ITpon personal examination OF the route ana
SURVEYS exhibited by the engineer OF the COM
pany, We find the proposed ditch 70 take us
Start one mile and tnreequaIteTs apoFe 1Iee ~
valley and about 500 feet below the luhcti9n ~
the North Fork and South Fork o. the North
Fork Of the American river. said route CON
ffnues along the north bank of the river,
through Giant Gap, under Cape Horn ana 70 Il
point near Auburn. making distance oil hity-
five miles. .. 40 oo,s+-,,ot;or
on the line of ditch for distance Of ten miles
10 he such as to enable us to travel over tne
route and the company TO place a large lotcei II
required, TO prosecute the Work 70 colI
The survey shows four tunnels Mlthln TINS
distance as follows: Tunnel No. Is ~ leeI long
and nearly completed: tunnel NO. IS 10 ieet
long. and finished No 3 is 100 feet long ana
No 4 is $50 feet long, neither OF which hau
There are four other proposed tunnels from
this poiut to Auburn, the length OF when had
not yet been determined. ,o,> Ill. . :
There will be required some lZ19 miles OF
fnminp along this main line. size OF hume 10
he 6 feet wide and feet deep, win space leit 10
add an extra foot on top II necessary; SIZE OF
ditch TO be feet ON bottom, 10 feet on Top anu
4 feet deep below the survey, material from
ditch to be thrown on the outer bank TO raise
the ditch IS inches above survey grade 70 pc,
for first 10 miles, SO feet TO the mile, lor the
of the line to be 7 or more feet per mile: eapac-
itv. as computed by the engineer OF the COM
panv will be 6GG0 inches OF water. lie also
states that there is Il supply At the dam OF not
less than $3.50 inches up TO September5st- ms
statement is corroborated by several persons
who have had good opportunities 10 1udge OF
the suuply Other persons, however are OF the
opinion that the supply at that TIME VIII not
reach this amount.
This conpany assures us that if properly en-
couraged they villa complete Their ditch
sufiicient to supply our wants by May !, lSoS, for
the territory covered by their system
SOUTH YUBA WATER COMPANY,
Principal place of business, Nevada City, Cali
fornia, John Spaulding Manager
We visited the Office of the company at their
Mace of business and received the statement
that their principal source OF water supply Is Cd
tanned from the South Guba river and IT'S trlbu.
taries, with system Of reservoirs consisting OF
Fordyce, Meadow Lake, Lake Sterling, Peak
Lakes, etc.
The capacity of their main ditch is 1000
inches, which can be fully supplied up to July
18TH from the South Yuba alone The above
named reservoirs can supply 5,OD lnches per
day for one hundred days after that time, with
its present capacity. which can be doubled II
Their ditch running to Gold Run has a ca
phcity Of 600 inches, another running TO ChalS
Bluff also has a capacity OF 3,OJO lnches when
can be turned into Bear river. Their ditch at
Gold Run can he extended to ColiaX ana below
II we would make-it TO their interest to do SO.
Length of the ditch from the dam on the
South Yuba river 10 Gold Run is 20 miles;
miles Of this is huming and mostly new; aver
age grade OF ditch is Ii feet to the mile.
BEAR RIVER DITCH,
f Birdsall. of Sacramento. proprietor-From
Investigations we find this system has ca
uacitv Of 500 inches when properly cleaned;
capacity in its P.esent condition, from 200 to
500 inches.
"A miles; of this distance there is probably q
ai,arter of nile Of dnme near the head and
in such condition that the same demands I'M
mediate repai's.
find what is knoWnas the Gold Hill ditch which
is taken from the Rear river - miles DeioW the
principle dam Length Of this ditch from dam
10 Gold Hill is % miles; size Of dlteh D Ieet on
top, 3 feet on bottom and 3 feet deep, with Il
good grade capacity from 500 to 900 lnches.
While our investigations convince Us that the
water supply bel uging to this system Is MADE
EsrasH
are led to due appreciation OF the same as n
distributing medium, when enlarged ana eN-
tended. as it should be. there being AT present
a system aggregatiug 26l miles IN length De-
longing thereto.
DEMAsSo FOR WATER.
As regards gathering statistics of amount OF
irTigable land in the county, your committee
have not had opportunity 10 complete, having
devoted their time alEnostwhollyin investigating
the various systems Of water supply available
for our necessities. We have, however, pro-
cured the satisfies +hered by a similar COM
mittee OF three Yeas ago. which said committee
considered 10 be incomplete, as large sections
Of our county, in thelrrlgable districts, were not
reported upon the list. Statements, however
have been taken FROM Syater agents, assuring US
that not less than $3.50 inches viii be wanted,
below Auburn alone in the near future, and
more within five years.
Taking the list MS given rs by the said COM
mittee OF three years ago, Me gather the lnfor-
nation from l65 perSsBs re ortllg they ilad
used 9i9 inches NJ % cents per inch but they
would agtee to take the Issxt season 800 inches,
if given clear water at 20 cents per inch. They
reported sol acres then irrigated, anu an
ownersi ip of Il, eS acres susceptible OF lrriga-
ton. Thus we will note with interest Gle
marked difference betWeapt the amount OF water
then being used at - cent? per inch, and the
amount yledged TO be taEsn at "A reduction In
price to = cents per inch being an increase Of
about SOL per cent. on the amount then IN use.
We also note the marked difference III acreage
between the amount irrigated then and the
amount orned by these parties capable of being,
irrigated. viz l,50l acres irrigated and l7,2Ss
acres capable of being irTigGted, being only
about $ per cent irrigated 10 Ike total amount.
We would further call your attsntion to the fact
that the data above given II from small per-
centage OF Our irrigators for VIXEN we consider
that there 21e % 40 acres in as gle township.
and only l7.AoS acres or ONLY ahogt three-quar-
tiers of ii tor nship reported from the whole
county. We see at once that the ,s2mber report
ing are but nfman proportiOa to The real num-
Der. And when we look forward in faith
toward the future developments o. cur county,
with its vast resources and adaHtabiiity. we see
the necessity o. ut once taking step to provide
increasing demands of the future The verifi-
cation of this we leave for your own, eomputa-
items Very respectfully submitted.
p W BUTLER
W. B. HAYroRp
GEO. D. KELLOGG,
Committee.
A SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT.
AllBURN. Cal. April 2 1881
Mr. President AMI Gentlemen. since writing
the foregoing report ave have taken occasion to
soma ft al a1tuarS in fru-ar